HOLD ME CLOSE

from Your North West Wedding - December/January 2022/23 (Issue 77)

PURE LUXURY

CLOSE Hold me Lauren and Alberto celebrated their big day with a relaxed theme at Wigan Town Hall and Stretford Public Hall Images courtesy of Take Two Photography

Lauren and Alberto met through mutual friends in 2014. “Alberto had recently moved to the UK from Buenos Aires, and he showed up at my shared house to meet up with one of his friends,” says Lauren. “He turned up with a carton of chocolate milk and some chocolate brioche. Needless to say, it was a good start! Alberto has the biggest smile, the kindest eyes, and rock-and-roll hair. He is so friendly and easygoing, and I was attracted to him immediately.”

Alberto proposed in 2019 during a holiday to Mexico. “He took me for a long walk along the beach,” shares the bride. “I don’t think he knew exactly where we were going. We were walking for quite some time until we reached a beautiful point overlooking the ocean. He then got down on one knee and popped the question, which was a complete surprise!”

SETTING THE SCENE

“We chose the Atrium at Wigan Town Hall as our ceremony venue for a few reasons,” explains Lauren. “I was born in Wigan, so there was a nice link there, and we live within the borough. The Atrium is a lovely space full of original features, and it fit our budget, which was relatively small as far as weddings go. We chose the Ballroom at Stretford Public Hall as our reception venue. We had been to an exhibition there, when we first moved back up to the North West, and we really loved the property! It’s a fantastic community space and also a charity, so it was great to support them as part of our day.

“The Atrium didn’t need much decorating, which was great,” adds the bride. “As far as rooms for civil ceremonies go, it already had what we wanted. We did, however, arrive and leave in style. My dad arranged all of the transport. He is a bit of a classic car enthusiast, which came in very handy on the day. Alberto and his best men came in a Rolls Royce driven by one of his friends, and I was picked up in a classic 1960’s white Mini, which was absolutely incredible. Little did I know my dad had actually purchased the Mini some months before and had been doing it up ready for the big day. It was a complete surprise, and I will be forever grateful to him. It was literally the car that I would have chosen had I been the one to choose. His friend was my fantastic chauffeur, and it was so much fun to ride in! He also arranged a vintage London bus from Routemaster 4 Hire to transport our guests from the ceremony to the reception. Alberto and I met in London, and my greatgrandfather used to drive the buses around the capital back in the day, so there was a lovely link there.”

The couple chose wild blooms in greens, corals, apricots, and yellows for their flowers from Northern Flower. “Everything looked and smelt incredible,” recalls Lauren. “We chose buttonholes, bouquets and a tiny ribbon for our daughter to wear.

“I come from a creative background, so sourcing what we wanted for the decorations was a matter of scouring charity shops and car boot sales for vases, up-cycling and dyeing fabrics to fit our colour scheme and roping in our amazing friends to tie metres of colourful bunting,” continues the bride. “The venue was ours to transform, so we divided the space into two areas. We had a dining area with banquet-style tables for the reception, and a party area which was more colourful with a fiesta theme. Our close friends and family helped us decorate the venue the evening before, making reams of bunting, climbing ladders to string lights, rolling out table runners, and arranging flowers into vases. We literally could not have done it without their help.”

It was important for the happy couple to incorporate their personalities, backgrounds and interests into their day. “We tried to put as much of us into the décor as we could,” reveals Lauren. “Our favours were Argentinian alfajores (a traditional chocolate biscuit) and wildflower seed bombs. We also chose to use Argentinian dulce de leche as the main flavour for our wedding cake, which was beautifully made by my brother’s partner, who has her own small baking business called Mêl by Lois. She decorated it with blooms from my bridal

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bouquet, and it was absolutely stunning.”

To tie in with their relaxed theme, the couple opted for a banquetstyle seating plan. “We were on the fence about having a seating plan, but in the end opted to have one despite the challenge of placing everyone,” remembers the bride. “Our meal was a buffet-style feast, with barbecue marinaded treats and fresh salads and sides. We didn’t do any tasting sessions prior to booking Herb & Spice Catering, but they had great reviews, and we were so happy with them. The food was delicious. Our wedding cake was dessert, and we also served delicious brownies that my step-sisters were kind enough to make for us via their business, Manchester Brownie Box. Our drinks were Spanish wines and British beers. I think we managed to keep everyone happy, well fed and suitably topped up with booze!”

DRESSED TO IMPRESS

“I wore a simple, ivory, empire-line dress that I bought from Sister Jane,” says Lauren. “It had a lovely texture to it with a gorgeous bow to tie the back. I ended up removing the sleeves from it for the big day, as it just felt much more my style that way. It was the first dress that I tried on, and although I did try others after purchasing it, I just couldn’t find anything I liked more! I kept my accessories simple with a handmade chiffon bow in my hair, pearl-encrusted hoop earrings, and my late mother’s gold signet ring on my right hand. I wanted to feel like she was close by, and it felt like a good moment to wear it.”

Alberto wore a brown wool suit from Harry Brown Menswear, complete with waistcoat, white shirt, loafers, and a grey tie. “The lining of his suit was amazing,” shares the bride. “It was a bright floral design that mirrored the textured flowers on my dress. He looked so handsome.

“We had flowergirls and bridesmaids,” continues Lauren. “Our two daughters and our niece were our flowergirls, and we chose white dresses with bright floral embroidery on the bodice for the three of them. My two closest friends were my bridesmaids, and I didn’t specify any particular dress or style that they should wear. I wanted them to feel their best and I felt a bit awkward about asking them to wear something that I had chosen for them. We were on a pretty tight budget, and I am so grateful to them both for having gone out to choose their own dresses. Sarah chose a gorgeous figure-hugging pink ruffled dress, and Lizzie chose a totally beautiful floral ankle-length dress. Sarah and Lizzie don’t know each other that well, having only properly met on the hen do, but somehow, they magically managed to coordinate the colours, and both looked absolutely stunning!”

TIME TO CELEBRATE

“We laid the entertainment on quite thick for our party,” explains the bride. “We kicked the night off with live music from some great friends of ours who play accordion, violin, and the cajon. They got everyone warmed up and dancing. They also played a lot of tango-inspired music, which was perfect for leading into our next performers, Northern Tango Academy. They stunned everyone and invited us all to have a tango lesson to practice some moves of our own. We then moved into the disco part of the night, which included an amazing bridal-themed show from our wonderful friend Ed, who performs as professional drag artist and all-round amazing, Mayumi Fukiko.”

MEMORABLE MOMENTS

“We felt nervous, excited and emotional on the morning of the wedding,” recalls Lauren. “It really was such an incredible day full of joy. We had to cancel our original wedding date back in 2020, and we seized the moment one day and decided almost on a whim to go for it, book a date, and finally be married. We planned and put together the whole day within six months, and we felt elated that we had managed to pull it off in such a short space of time.

“Saying our own vows was a big highlight of the day,” adds the bride. “It was a tender moment full of so much emotion. I also loved my dad’s speech which was absolutely amazing. He has been learning

Spanish and addressed my partner and his family and friends in Spanish as part of his special words. It was a very emotional moment. So many of our nearest and dearest had travelled from afar to celebrate with us, and that was so appreciated.

“At the end of the night, we were both picked up by a circle of our Argentinian friends and bounced into the air to shouts of congratulations,” continues Lauren. “We also ‘lost’ our oldest daughter at one point, only to find her hiding under one of the banquet tables playing happily in a ‘den’ with one of her little friends.”

HONEYMOON

“We had three honeymoons,” reveals Lauren. “We spent our wedding night at The Alan in Manchester, then had a few nights away together in a quiet picturesque town in Mallorca, followed by a family-moon in Greece. It had been a long time since we had last been away, so we really went for it this year.”

LAUREN AND ALBERTO’S CONTACTS

Ceremony venue, Wigan Town Hall, www.wigan.gov.uk | Reception venue, Stretford Public Hall, www.stretfordpublichall.org.uk | Photographer, Take Two Photography, www.taketwophotography.co.uk | Second shooter, Flora Yan, www.instagram.com/florayan9 | Bride’s dress, Sister Jane, www.sisterjane.com | Bride’s ring, We Are Arrow, www.wearearrow.com | Groom’s suit, Harry Brown Menswear, www.harrybrownlondon.com Cake, Mêl by Lois, www.instagram.com/meltreatsbylois | Flowers, Northern Flower, www.northernflower.com | Bus, Routemaster 4 Hire, www.routemaster4hire.co.uk | Mini Cooper, Graham Martin, gjmiam@hotmail.com | Band, Lost Revellers, www.lostrevellers.com | Drag queen, Mayumi Fukiko, www.instagram.com/mayumifukiko | Tango dancers, Northern Tango Academy, www.northerntangoacademy.com | Catering, Herb & Spice Catering, www.herbandspicecatering.co.uk | Brownies, Manchester Brownie Box, www.manchesterbrowniebox.com